She straightens her red sweater, and I love that she wore it for me. “But you don’t have a choice about joining us.”
She stomps her foot. “Why does it matter so much to you?”
Because we need you. “You’ll have fun.”
“I’ll get arrested. Possibly die.”
I smile. She’s not far off. “Just give it a try.”
“Why do I feel like people don’t just give it a try?”
I step into her once again, and she looks up at me through long, dark lashes. “Do I need to remind you that—”
“That I don’t have a choice.” She cuts me off.
“See. Was that so hard?”
She rolls her eyes, turns around, and yanks the door open. I grab her upper arm and pull her to a stop. Leaning down, I whisper into her ear. “Tonight, you belong to me.” She gives me a side glare, and I give her a threatening smile. “Understood?”
“Understood,” she agrees through gritted teeth.
I take her hand in mine, and we walk out together. We make our way down to the kitchen, passing the partygoers. Some call out my name, giving me a head nod, and others lift their drinks. I ignore them. They came to kiss my ass, and I’m not in the mood to indulge them. Instead, I’m trying to figure out how to get away from her. I shouldn’t want her. Not like this. Not at all.
But this is part of it. The guys agreed on it. They said if we have her join, then we need to show her off. Or else we wouldn’t have had the party. It’s all a formality.
“Hey, Becky,” she says to a blonde as we enter the kitchen.
The girl looks at me and then at Austin. “Hi,” she says softly. Her eyes shoot back to mine.
I ignore her. Letting go of Austin’s hand, I grab a red Solo cup and make her a drink without even bothering to ask what she likes. She’ll drink whatever I give her.
Once I finish her drink, I make myself one. “Here,” I say, handing it to her.
She takes it without even looking at me. Her eyes remain on the girl as they chat about pointless shit.
Deke stands over in the corner with a blond bimbo under his arm. Shane sits at the table playing poker with some guys. And Kellan stands over by the entrance with his tongue down some redhead’s throat. I don’t know where the hell Bennett went.
I walk around the breakfast bar and put my arm around Austin’s shoulders. She doesn’t even acknowledge me. But the girl, Becky, looks up at me wide-eyed and then back at Austin.
What the fuck is he doing? Is going through her mind at the moment. Because I never show any affection to women. I ignore them until I have them naked in my bed. Of course, Austin doesn’t know that, so she wouldn’t understand what I’m doing right now. But I’m letting everyone here know that she is mine! That way, when she starts doing her dares, no one will turn her in if they see her. I can’t risk getting my ass burned because of her.
I take a sip of my mixed drink as “Love the Way You Hate Me” by Like A Storm plays through the speakers of the house, and I smile. She’s gonna hate me, all right. And I’m gonna love it.
AUSTIN
I take a big gulp of my drink, and Becky’s eyes bore into mine. I don’t think she’s blinked once in the past twenty minutes, which is impossible.
“Are you okay?” I finally ask her.
Her eyes shoot behind me, and I look over my shoulder to see Cole, looking down at his phone. Bastard!
“How do you know Cole?” she asks.
“Just met him.” I reach out and take her drink from her hand. She doesn’t argue. I take a gulp of it and hiss in a breath. Hers is strong. Just how I like them.
Her eyes widen. “Are you serious?”
I nod, taking another drink. I’m starting to feel lightheaded. “Why?”
“Just be careful,” she warns.
I look back at him over my shoulder again, and he leans against the countertop. His arms over his chest as he looks over at who I think is Shane. His defined jaw is sharp, and his eyes narrowed. He always looks so angry. Dark. But that is what draws me to him. He’s so mysterious. I want to know what goes on in his mind.
I lift the drink and take another swallow but pull it away when I see it’s empty. “I drank it all,” I say, handing it back to her.
She laughs and pours herself another one.
“You know them well?”
She nods and hands me a new full drink. “Been going to school with them since kindergarten.”
“Girlfriend?” I ask.
Her laughter grows. “No.”
I nod. Figures. Guys like Cole don’t settle down. They don’t allow girls to get close enough to see who they really are.
I take another drink and lick my lips. They’re starting to tingle. He pushes off the counter and turns to face Shane, giving me a profile view. His arms still crossed over his chest, he stands to his full height, and I watch the way his jeans hang on his narrow hips and remember what his body looked like when he got out of my father’s pool. I bite my bottom lip before taking another drink.
“Girl, you’ve got it bad.” Becky laughs.
I whip around to look at her. But even I can’t deny it. “I’m treading water,” I admit. Guys like Cole Reynolds are why smart girls turn stupid. It’s embarrassing on so many levels but understandable.
I mean, I fucking hate the guy, and I still want him to take me to his room. That alone tells me how unbelievably stupid I am.
She takes a step toward me, closing the small space, and whispers, “These waters are infested with sharks. And you are bleeding.” She looks over my shoulder at Cole, then back at me. “But there are worse ways to die.”
I take another big gulp of her drink and thoughts of how he held me against the door upstairs make my thighs tighten. And that first night in the cemetery … or when we were in his car and he was telling me about Eli’s older sister. My heart starts to beat faster when the words he said to me upstairs come back to me. And let’s not forget the way you allowed me to touch you last night. Tell me, were you disappointed when I didn’t throw you on the bed and fuck you right then?
My heart starts to pound faster at the thought of him doing just that.
I finally nod at Becky as she stares at me expectantly, unable to deny that. I’m bleeding all right. I take another gulp. “What do I do?” I ask her.
She gives me a big smile and takes the drink from my hand. “Take advantage of it while you can.” Then she tosses it back.
CHAPTER NINE
COLE
“I UNDERSTAND WHY you’re doing it, but are you sure you want to do it?” Shane asks me.
I nod. “Not a doubt in my mind.”
“Okay.” He turns, giving me his back, and walks out of the kitchen.
I move to the kitchen island to make my third drink when Kellan comes up to me. They’re all going to come to me one by one. Well, except for Deke. He knows my mind is made up. And none of the others are going to be able to change it. They should know that by now.
“I think we should call it quits,” he growls.
I arch a brow. “Why is that?”
He sighs heavily. “She’s a liability. What if one of us gets in trouble because of her?”